Reconstruction of Budapest metro line 3 to start before October 31

Reconstruction work on Budapest metro line 3 is “very likely” to start by October 31, Budapest Mayor István Tarlós told a press conference on Friday.

Budapest transport company BKV plans to conclude contracts for the reconstruction of the six northern stations and of the tunnel on September 4, Tarlós said. New public procurement tenders would be necessary for the reconstruction of the other 14 stations, he said, as the previous offers contained unfounded figures and were therefore unacceptable.

Answering a question on the case of the “ethical hacker” who demonstrated a security vulnerability in the Budapest transport authority’s (BKK) e-ticket system, Tarlós said “the young man and his hacking” is not the main issue. The mayor said “several” denial of service attacks had been levelled at the transport company’s system which constitute a “serious crime where good faith is out of the question”.